


Reverse the Tear

by DancingAnya



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dead Goblin Lives, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Gen, Universe Alteration, What would have happened if Caleb wasn't an idiot, critical role - Freeform, kinda meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-15 20:22:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18676777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancingAnya/pseuds/DancingAnya
Summary: Our friends in The Mighty Nein don’t always make the best decisions. Sometimes, these decisions kill those who our god Matt Mercer has prepared for us to cross paths with. Before Caleb can destroy the goblin in the bone pit in episode 60, Nott interferes. This universe alteration is what would have happened if Caleb hadn’t acted so rashly, and the paper never had to be torn.





	Reverse the Tear

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a lot of firsts for me. First time writing for the Critical Role fandom, first time writing a battle scene with so many characters that have names, and first time having a piece be so meta. As is the nature of Dungeons and Dragons I suppose. I hope you enjoy!

“Caleb!” Nott yelled at her friend. 

“What?” 

“Maybe you should check to see what is down in the pit before you burn it all away!” 

“What could possibly be down there besides bones?” 

“We don’t know! That’s the point!” 

Caleb looked down into the pit and sighed. 

“Alright.” He waved his hands and cast dancing lights down into the pit. Upon doing so, he saw bones. Lots of bones. Caleb looked to Nott. “See? There’s nothing there.” 

Just as the light bounced to the end of the pit, a figure stood out among the bones. Caleb could barely make it out, but it seemed small and terrified. He stopped his fire spell and kneeled down to get a better look. Sure enough, a small goblin was crouched in the corner, trying their best to conceal their body from the towering wizard. Caleb turned to Nott with a face of disbelief. 

“There’s a goblin down there.” 

A small voice cried out in terror at the words. They covered their head and shivered. Caleb wasn’t sure what to do. 

“Maybe you could go down there?” he suggested, “It’ll probably react better to you.”

Nott peaked down the pit, “It’s a goblin though.” 

“So?” 

“I don’t know! I’m feeling so conflicted!” 

“Nott, you know that not all goblins are bad. Look at you.” 

“Well I’m not _really_ a goblin-” 

“Nott,” Caleb said, giving his friend a dull look.

 

“Alright, alright,” Nott waved her hands, “I’ll go.” 

Nott jumped down into the pit and moved towards the cowering figure. She slowly removed her mask and held out a hand. 

“H-hey,” she said in goblin, “I’m a goblin too. See?” Nott grabbed one of the bones and pretended to gnaw on it. “So good. Don’t you just love the taste of… dead things?” 

Getting a better look at the creature, Nott could make out some features. They seemed to be a girl goblin with short, choppy hair. Her tattered clothing clutched closely to her skinny body and she seemed smaller than most of the goblins Nott had encountered before. Despite this, she didn’t seem like a child. On her toes were overgrow toenails that seemed to have gone far too long without being filed down. Nott tried her best to smile at the goblin girl, which only seemed to make things worse. Tears began to form in her eyes. Just as Nott was about to turn away and shrug to Caleb, the tiny voice spoke. 

“W-who are you?” Her voice was hearse and timid, nothing like the normal goblin voices Nott had heard. 

“I’m Nott,” Nott said, “I don’t want to hurt you. We just want to help you get on your way. You don’t attack us, and we won’t attack you.” 

The small goblin girl nodded quickly and looked up to Caleb. She spoke in common, “Who are you?” 

Caleb, seemingly surprised that the goblin could speak common, spoke after a few moments of processing, “I’m Caleb. I suppose I could ask you the same.” 

The goblin girl took a minute, but she eventually spoke, “I’m Wine.” 

By this point, the rest of the Mighty Nein had realized that something was happening. They gathered by the pit and peered down despite Caleb’s efforts to shoo them away. Upon seeing them, Wine shrieked and scurried as far away from them that she could possibly get. Nott facepalmed and turned up to the rest of the Mighty Nein.

“Thank you. We’ve just gone backward in progress.” 

Beau’s eyes grew wide as she saw the goblin girl heaving her chest. She smiled, “Awe, Nott, have you made a friend?” 

“No!” Nott defended, “This is Wine. We just found her down here.” 

Caleb turned Caduceus and murmured something that Nott couldn’t hear. Caduceus spoke to someone else behind them. Probably, Nott figured, to their new stone giant friend Soorna. As he spoke, Nott tried her best to calm Wine down. 

“It’s alright, it’s alright. They’re with me.” Wine seemed to relax a bit as she looked over the group. She muttered to Nott in goblin. 

“I swear I had to do it! They made me!” 

“Do what?” Nott asked but was promptly cut off by Caduceus yelling down to her. 

“Soorna said that there aren’t many goblins around these parts. She thinks it’s strange that there’s one down there.”

Nott turned back to Wine, “Can you explain to us why you’re here? Who made you do what? I’m confused.” 

“Nott, maybe you should bring her up here before you question her,” Jester suggested while peering into the pit. She was looking at the goblins with a small smile that Nott couldn’t quite decipher. She sighed. 

“Alright.” Nott reached out her hand to Wine and waited for the goblin to take it. Soon enough, Wine grabbed her hand and allowed for Nott to lead her out of the pit. Before they left, however, Nott noticed her grab something from between the bones and tuck it into her rags. Nott rolled her eyes. Goblins and their trinkets. All of them were the same. 

When they got out of the pit, Nott could get a better look at Wine. Whatever object she picked up was protruding from her rags in a circular shape. Nott looked at her quizzically and she shied away. 

“Wine, was it?” Fjord spoke while stepping closer to the goblin, “What do you have there?” 

With that, Wine burst into tears.

“Fjord!” Jester scolded, “You don’t talk to a child like that!” 

“That’s no child. She’s just a really small goblin,” Nott corrected. 

“Oh,” Jester said, “Well, you still did it wrong.” Jester skipped up to Wine and smiled. “Hello, Wine! I’m Jester! We are the Might Nein. We don’t want to hurt you. Maybe we can help you! What’s going on?” 

Wine, seemingly trusting of Jester, spoke in common. 

“I was sent here by them. They made me do it.” 

“Made you do what?” 

Wine pointed to the circular object in her rags, “They made me put this here.” 

“May I see it?” 

The small goblin hesitated but eventually relinquished it over to Jester. She smiled at Wine and examined it. 

“Guys!” Jester said, “We’ve seen this before!” 

“That’s right!” Beau said, opening up her book to reveal a page she had doodled in, “It looks exactly like this!” 

Jester turned to Wine, “This is the item that makes the rifts appear, right?” she asked. 

Wine shrugged, oblivious as to what she had been holding. 

Nott, looking at the item, spoke, “So we have to destroy it to close the rifts?” 

“I suppose.” 

“Then let's do it!” 

“No!” Wine said, tears streaming down her face, “If you destroy it, they’ll kill my family!” 

“They’ll kill your family?” Jester asked, “I thought goblins didn’t have family.”

“Please, we aren’t like the others. We hide and stay hidden, but they found us. Please, you have to let me complete my task.” 

Caleb muttered something under his breath. To Nott, who was closest to him, thought it sounded like “insight check,” but she couldn't be too sure. It was a strange thing for Caleb to say. She turned to him. 

“What, Caleb?” 

“I think she is telling the truth. This goblin, she has a family.” 

Nott turned back to the goblin and frowned, “I don’t buy it.” 

“Nott!” Jester yelled. 

“What? I’ve been around goblins for a very long time and never once have I heard them even utter the word ‘family.’ Pardon me for being suspicious!” 

“I swear I do!” Wine said, suddenly finding some confidence, “There’s Sisla and Odar and Lyfe and Thor. We live together. We are family. Please, you have to believe me!” 

“Well, if we don’t destroy this plate, then the stone giant’s home will still be invaded,” Nott reasoned, “And it’s our job to get the stone giants back home.” 

“Right, but maybe we can do both?” Jester suggested before turning to Wine, “You need to tell us everything you can so we can help you, alright?” 

Wine nodded slowly before speaking, “I’m from up a place not too far from here. My family and I keep mostly in the shadows because goblins aren’t very accepted. We figured that, since there were no native goblins around these parts, we would be safe. Unfortunately, we were wrong. Goblins are the perfect target for doing dirty work, especially those with attachments to something other than materials or booze. I was the most able-bodied among us. They told me to come here and plant the disc and that they would kill my family if I didn’t.” 

“Who are they?” 

“I’m not sure. All I know is that they are powerful mages from the Dwendalian Empire. They talked weird and seemed to know what they were doing.” 

“That sounds like the Cerberus Assembly,” Caleb said, resting his chin in his hand.

“We shouldn’t make leaps in judgment,” Beau stopped him, “It could be anyone.” 

“No, no I think the wizard is right,” Wine said, “I heard them mention something that sounded similar. I’m not entirely sure though.” 

Soorna the stone giant said something to Caduceus who turned to the group. 

“Soorna says that we should destroy the disc as soon as possible.” 

“I agree,” Nott said, “We are in danger as long as it is active.” 

Caleb turned to Wine, “I doubt that they can sense if the discs are destroyed. We can go back to your rendezvous point and go from there.” 

Wine seemed conflicted but eventually sighed, “You’ve all been strangely kind to me. You can go ahead and destroy the disc if you promise to help me.” 

“We will,” Jester said, “We promise.” 

With that, Jester threw the disc on the ground, effectively shattering it. She turned back to Wine, “Now, tell us where you are meeting them.” 

Wine spent the next few minutes describing their meeting place. Apparently, she was to go back to her home where many of the mages waited with her family held captive. 

“We live in a clearing in the forest. The area is infested with other monsters, though they don’t bother us much. We keep to ourselves. We never could have imagined that they would have found us, but they did.” 

“They must have been looking for goblins specifically in the area. They aren’t hard to find in the Dwendailian Empire.” 

“It’s strange that they were looking specifically for goblins with families. I didn’t even know that there were any goblins with families!” Nott said. 

“What do you take us for, savages?” Wine said. 

“Respectfully, yes.” 

Wine rolled her eyes, “You’re a goblin. Haven’t you ever wanted a family?” 

“As a matter of fact, I do have a family!” 

“So why is it so strange to you?” 

Nott opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it, “That is none of your business.” 

“Nott,” Jester said. 

Nott sighed and sat down against the stone wall, “I’m sorry. I want you to get back to your family. I’ve just lived among goblins so long that I’ve lost faith in them.” 

Wine looked at Nott with a sad face, “I understand. Goblins can be cruel and unforgiving, but you’d be surprised just how many want or have families. We just… hide.” 

“Goblins are good at hiding.” 

Wine smiled, “I suppose we are.” 

“Well this is adorable but we are running out of time,” Beau said with a dull face.

“Beau’s right. We need to get to the meeting point as soon as possible.” 

Yasha, who had been listening in the whole time, finally spoke, “We will free your family, but then you will need to relocate.” 

“I understand. Thank you. I… I’m sorry for all I’ve done.” 

“It’s alright,” Beau looked away from the goblin and to Caleb, “Sometimes our actions aren’t our own.” 

“Thank you. That means a lot.” 

“We should go as soon as possible,” Caduceus spoke up, “Show us where your family is.” 

“Right.” 

 

______________

 

“Are you sure this is the right way?”

“Shh! We’re almost there. I’ve been down this way hundreds of times. It is designed not to be found.” 

Soon enough, a small fire could be seen through the trees. Wine motioned for the Mighty Nein to start sneaking. Thankfully, the large stone giant had stayed behind to guard the fortress, or they would have been given away. 

Wine stopped the group and whispered, “I’m going to hide. I can’t fight, only run. Please be careful. They are super strong.” 

“We’re super strong too,” Jester said, “Like really strong.” 

“I pray you’re right.” 

Wine scurried up a tree and disappeared, leaving the Mighty Nein to themselves. They looked amongst themselves. 

“What now?” Nott asked. 

“Do we go in quickly?” 

“That sounds like a good idea. We could get a surprise round in on them,” Fjord suggested. 

“How many are there?” 

“I’ll look.” 

Nott snuck closer to the clearing. Thankfully, she didn’t make much noise. Coming back, she spoke hurriedly. 

“There’s four. I could barely hear them, but they sounded like they were getting impatient. We should act fast.” 

“Alright. There’s seven of us and four of them. How do we attack?” 

“One of them looked like a leader. We should kill him first.” 

“Alright. Fjord, Nott, and Caleb you attack the big guy with your ranged attacks and the rest of us will deal with the others.” 

“Right.” 

“Let’s do this for Wine’s sake.” 

The Mighty Nein nodded and sprang into action. Nott shot her crossbow at the same time she heard Fjord scream, “Eldritch blast!” 

The leader screamed as he was hit from behind with fire, eldritch blast, and a crossbow bolt. The others ran into action. Jester summoned her giant lollipop and used it to hit the underlings while Beau went in for a flurry of blows. Yasha, using the Magician's Judge, actually got the final hit on one of the underlings in the surprise round. Just like in the days of old where her sword was used to execute mages, the Magician’s Judge made the figure fall limp. Yasha, in her rage, quickly moved on to the next caster. The leader, seemingly surprised by all of this, went to attack the small goblin family huddled by a tree. Thankfully, a dagger came out of the trees and struck his hand, dispersing the spell. This gave the three attacking the leader the chance to hit him again. Caduceus helped the girls hit the underlings with guiding bolt. 

Nott looked to her left and saw her friends all fighting for this goblin’s sake. She smiled before turning back to the battle. She had the best family a girl could ask for. 

Jester, Beau, and Yasha quickly took care of the other mage, but not before he could cast thunderwave on Yasha. The lightning hit her, but something strange happened. As if she had absorbed the attack, it spun through her body. Yasha looked down at her arms before shooting them at the mage. The thunder damage hit him and threw him backward, slamming him into a tree. Yasha looked down at her hands in disbelief but was thrown back into battle with seconds. 

The leading mage cast sleep on Fjord who was closest to him. Fjord fell to the ground as Caleb and Nott fired again at the mage. 

Soon enough, the third underling was on the ground and the leading mage was dead. Beau grabbed the lower wizard by the collar and pushed him against a tree. She readied her fist and spoke. 

“Who are you? Who do you work for?” 

The wizard coughed up blood, “M-my name is Cain.”

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t care. You know what I meant.” 

“I’m training in the Cerberus Assembly.” 

Beau looked away for a moment to speak to Caleb when the wizard cast fire bolt on himself. 

“No!” Beau shouted, but it was too late. The wizard was gone. As his limp body fell to the ground, Beau picked up his head and slapped it a bit as if trying to get him to wake up. It didn’t work. 

“I could cast speak with the dead on him and get more information,” Jester suggested. 

“No point,” Caleb said slowly, voice shaking, “If he’s working for the Cerberus Assembly, they won’t have told him anything but lies.” 

“Caleb?” Jester spoke softly, “Are you alright?” 

“I’m fine.” 

Upon noticing Fjord laying on the ground, Jester yelled out, “Fjord!” 

“Don’t worry,” Caduceus stopped her, “He’s just sleeping.” 

Jester went to rouse Fjord while Caleb scanned frantically through a book. Nott turned to the goblin family and held out a hand. 

“I’m Nott. I’m sorry what happened to you. We’re here to help. Wine is with us somewhere.” 

At the mention of her name, Wine approached her family. She pulled another goblin girl into a hug and held out her hands to the others. They all seemed scared and crying. Nott couldn’t help but tear up herself. This was a goblin family. A real goblin family. She sighed. Maybe she hadn’t given them enough credit. 

“Yasha,” Beau said, approaching her friend, “What was that? How did you send the attack back at the mage?” 

“I-I don’t know.” 

“It looked like absorb elements,” Caleb interrupted, still glancing at his book, “It’s a fairly easy spell for rangers, druids, sorcerers, and wizards. And some fighter’s too I suppose. Nothing for someone like Yasha.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“You know, Yasha’s like super strong and rage-y. Barbaric, if you will. I’ve never heard of someone like that casting absorb elements.”

“Ooo,” Jester said, pulling a now-conscious Fjord with her, “Maybe the Stormlord gave it to her. You know, so she can like absorb lightning and thunder!” Jester made the best thunder impression she could. Surprisingly, it was fairly good. 

“Well, absorb elements works on other types of magic too. Like acid and fire. I wouldn’t see it as something that-” 

“Let’s find out if it works!” Jester grabbed Caleb’s hand and pointed towards Yasha. “Use fire bolt on Yasha!” 

“What? No!” Caleb shrieked. 

“It’s okay, Caleb. I’m curious too,” Yasha said, not taking her eyes off the wizard. 

“I-if you’re sure.” 

“Positive.” 

Caleb held out and hand and shot it towards Yasha. Like before, she absorbed the essence and shot it back towards a tree. The tree charred. 

“Wow! It is absorb elements!” Jester cheered, “Maybe you’re becoming a druid. Or a ranger! Or a sorcerer like Fjord!” 

“Or a wizard!” Caleb defended.

“Don’t you have to like learn stuff with books to be a wizard?” 

“Well… yes.” 

Jester smiled and turned back to Yasha, “That’s super cool, Yasha!” 

“T-thanks.” 

Caleb went right back to reading and Nott turned to look at the goblin family. Wine had approached her and was holding something. 

“Thank you for everything you’ve done. Here, please accept this gift from us. It isn’t much, but it’s what we have.” 

“Oh, we can’t accept money,” Nott said.

“It’s not money. It’s our collection of random items we’ve gathered over the years. Buttons, coins, trinkets… It isn’t very valuable but it’s what we have.” 

Nott immediately grabbed the bag and looked into it. Her eyes grew wide at all the little knickknacks. 

“Woah!” she exclaimed, “This is amazing!” She looked back at the goblin family and her face fell. She sighed. “But you should keep it. I wouldn’t want to separate you from your collection.” 

Wine, who now had tears in her eyes, gingerly took back the bag. She sniffled, “Thank you, Nott. Thank you so much.” 

As the goblin family went to work picking up their items to move, Caduceus came over to Nott and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“You did the right thing.” 

“I know.” 

They made their way over to the rest of the Mighty Nein who were chatting about the fight and Yasha’s apparent new ability. Nott looked up to Caleb who was still rummaging through his book. 

“What are you looking for, Caleb?” 

“Anything.” 

“Anything?” 

“Anything that will help me take down the Cerberus Assembly once and for all.” 

“Caleb, you don’t have to do it alone. We’re here too.” 

“This is my burden-” 

“It’s our burden. We are all a part of this now whether you like it or not. We will figure out something together. I promise.” 

Caleb gave Nott a sad smile and she knew he didn’t believe a word she said. She sighed. It was worth trying anyway. 

The Mighty Nein watched as the goblin family picked up their things, said goodbye, and walked off into the forest. It wasn’t long before you could no longer see their tiny bodies. Nott worried about what might happen to them, but Jester eased her worries by saying that they would fix the evil that threatened them soon enough. They had to. 

With that, the Mighty Nein walked back to the stone giant stronghold to meet Soorna and get a good night’s rest. The thundering sky above them lulled them to sleep as they rested from their journey. Who knows, Nott thought, what would have happened had she not stopped Caleb. Maybe they would have never saved the goblin family. Nott’s faith in goblinkind would have still been poor. They would have never known that the Cerberus Assembly was behind all of the attacks. Nott lowered her head. What were they to do now? It was clear that they had to do something about the Cerberus Assembly. Especially that Trent guy who hurt Caleb. He was probably behind all of this, but why would they attack a stone giant fortress all the way out here? There were so many questions left unanswered and yet Nott still found comfort in knowing that, with the people around her, she would never be alone again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! <33 If you want more content like this, be sure to tell me! I'm still testing out the waters on this. Thanks again.


End file.
